A quick update on copyright

Things change rapidly in the world of copyright. Here’s a quick roundup of all the latest news. Who stands to gain from Oz copyright changes? Copyright Agency Board member, journalist Chris Pash, revealed in a Business Insider article the interests and alliances that stand to gain from proposed changes to Australian copyright law. He writes: […]

May 25, 2017

Time for the truth to interfere in copyright battle

In an article in Business Insider, the Chair of the Australian Copyright Council, Kate Haddock, picks apart Wikipedia’s campaign to get copyright changed in Australia. She writes: ‘This campaign is about Big Tech companies who want the change so they can use Australian content — music, literature, educational materials, movies — without paying for it. […]

May 16, 2017

Third annual Brian Johns Lecture: Saving news that matters in a time of information overload

On Thursday 4 May the Centre for Media History, in collaboration with the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, hosted the annual Brian Johns Lecture at the Metcalfe Auditorium in the State Library of New South Wales. Speaking to a full house on the subject ‘How the internet killed my business model: Saving news that matters in a time […]

April 29, 2016

Productivity Commission proposals would stifle Australian content

Proposals to impose a US-style intellectual property arrangement in Australia made by the Productivity Commission today would pose one of the greatest dangers to Australian-made content in a generation. “A US-style ‘fair use’ arrangement to copyright is out of context in the Australian system and would be a wrecking ball to Australian writers, creators, publishers and […]

April 19, 2016

US Authors Guild’s review of Google Books case denied

The U.S. Supreme Court has today denied to review an appeal to the case Authors Guild v. Google The decision leaves standing the view that copying and providing access to some millions of copyright protected books for profit-making purposes and without payment to authors is “fair”. “Today authors suffered a colossal loss,” said Authors Guild president Roxana Robinson. […]

December 3, 2015

Copyright and Piracy: Michael Robotham

First let me say that I am passionate about freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of expression. I also want to laud the digitalisation of media as one of the greatest breakthroughs in history. Until a few years ago, despite being translated into 23 languages, my psychological thrillers were accessible to a relatively […]

September 14, 2015

Our culture will pay for loss of rights, says Turow

American best-selling author and former President of the US Authors’ Guild, Scott Turow, addressed the Australian Society of Authors’ Congress recently. He urged authors to stand united to retain their rights and for readers to back them through buying their books. Read this edited version of his engaging and informative speech, which was published in […]

September 2, 2013

Sandy Grant’s Address to NZ Publishers

The following is an excerpt from a speech delivered by Copyright Agency Chair, Sandy Grant at the NZ Publishers AGM on 18 July 2013 in Auckland, New Zealand. “I am going to talk today wearing two hats – I am speaking as the Chair of Australia’s collective licensing agency, the Copyright Agency, and as the […]